Extended Family Fun

(Goblin is 30 months)

We were lucky enough to spend this weekend with Hublet's extended family. We don't get to see them very often because they live in Wales and Scotland, so this was quite a big deal for us. 

Nanny had prepared a scavenger hunt involving catching crabs and building sand castles. Getting everyone organised was a bit like herding cats but we finally got to the beach. 

Goblin never got around to catching any crabs because he was too busy building sand castles with Aunty S. Goblin completely adores Aunty S. If asked his favourite people in the world it would probably be Aunty S before Mummy and Daddy. And fortunately Aunty S seems to enjoy playing with Goblin as much a he does with her. She always gets straight down to playing as soon as she arrives. 

Aunty S seems to instinctively knows when Goblin is about to bolt or when he is looking a bit droopy and needs a cuddle. As a result she is one of very few people that make my 'parental latent anxiety' (PLA) disappear. You know PLA, that permanent knot in your stomach when ever your kids awake (and sometimes when they are asleep but you can't hear them breathing), that comes with its own internal monologue - "Oh crikey, where is he, what is he doing? I can't see him, panic PANIC". They never tell you about PLA in the parenting books do they! Well if Goblin is with Aunty S I don't have that knot. 

I had been a bit worried that Goblin's cousins might not be interested in playing with him because of the age difference, but I needn't have worried. They all played so nicely together. Goblin loves being around other children at the moment. He gets really excited and copies anything older children do.

I think he did lead his younger cousin astray once or twice!

But her older sister was there to sort them out. 

In the afternoon we all watched the Grand National (big horse race). Goblin was quite excited by all the horses. He kept saying - "look horses", Yes Goblin its a horse race! Goblin and I won first and second prize in the family sweepstake. I was quite excited by this but Goblin was more interested in playing with Aunty M and the Duke.

We did have a small bit of drama over the weekend when Goblin tripped over a stool and put his tooth right through his bottom lip. But he was very brave and we decided it didn't need a trip to the hospital. We were right - it healed up so fast I didn't even get to teach him how to squirt milk through the hole it made (A skill I never managed to acquired - despite many attempts - when I had a lip piercing as a teenager).

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